A cat called Cow.

Until sometime last night, we had a cat called Cow. It was a black and white cat, with patches of each colour, like a cow. Hence, my kids chose that name for it. It was a young cat, perhaps 9 months old. She had an adorably sweet personality and was very warm and seemingly loving, nudging adults and children alike, as it to say hello. Of all her mother’s kittens, she was the one who liked to stay closest to her mother. This morning, my son, Fintan, 8, found her dead.

It was a bit of a shock to be told this news. You see, we have four young cats, who were dumped on our doorstep by their mother. Of all the four, Cow was by far the most charming. In fact, she was the only one that seemed to have its own true personality. The others were mainly just hungry and out for food the whole time. We had planned to give the other three away, and keep Cow. So it was unwelcome news to see Cow stretched out stiffly on the ground, upside down, with her chest exposed, as if arching in pain, her mouth open in a grimace of surprised agony.

Upon her chest, there was an oval wound, about an inch across. Something had put a hole in her chest, on the underside. Had she been bitten by an animal? Had she fallen on something sharp? It was all the more surprising to see her dead like this, since we had seen her alive only hours before.

The children stared at her unmoving body in silence, as we prepared to bury her. My wife’s father was here. He had dug a rectangular hole in the garden for Cow – a little grave. All the children stood around eyes fixed on Cow. They were unusually quiet. Cow didn’t look quite real anymore. She was completely stiff and looked like a stuffed toy – not an ex-cat, at all. The absence of life, made her look as if she had never been animate. She simply looked like an artist’s impression of a cat – and not a very convincing one at that. It is funny what death can do. It makes even the most living animal, look rather unreal. I was struck, then, by what had made Cow such an interesting cat. It was her personality – the way she moved, what she did, her seeming intentions and the general impression of warmth in her actions. All that was gone. Without her animating personality, Cow did not even look like Cow anymore. She looked like a cat shaped black and white object, with a pink hole in her chest.

We buried Cow, in silence and replaced the turf on top of her. The boys didn’t say anything. I don’t think they knew what to make of it all. This was their first direct acquaintance with death. I don’t think they have ever seen a dead mammal, or human, before. Cow had been their favourite cat. In all, I think they took it very well, though I could tell they were a bit shocked, since there had been no forewarning.

Last night, I had heard dogs barking, rather aggressively at about 3 am. Perhaps that was when Cow was attacked and died. Had the dogs come onto our property or had Cow wandered onto theirs? We shall never know. It was clear though that she had dragged herself back to her favourite spot in the garden and died near where we used to feed her. She had come home, for her final moments.

I was going to write about Cow a long time ago, because I thought her funny and endearing. I never expected the first time to write of her, would be of her early death. Reflecting on why she died, rather than any of her siblings, I think it may very well have been her colouration. The others were shades of brown and would be difficult to see at night. She was black and white and would have been easy to spot, at night. I think that which made her beautiful to look at, may also have cost her, her life.

My wife Syahidah reassured Fintan. “Cow has gone to Cow heaven to meet all the other “cows”.”

He smiled at that, finding it either a comforting or a funny thought. It wasn’t clear which.

Thank you, Cow, for being so sweet and making us all smile, at your warmth. My sons, in particular, will miss her, though my wife and I will too.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

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Friendship between species: a love of animals.

Tiarnan, twenty one months, rather likes animals. He reacts to them as if he is seeing a particularly sweet thing: with a big smile and evident excitement.

A couple of days ago, I was walking Tiarnan in the park when he saw a dog. He took me by the hand and dragged me towards it. He then stood watching it for a while, before reaching out, tentatively, with a single outstretched finger, to touch its white hair. It was a small dog, perhaps a third of his height, with white hair all over, apart from brown on its face. As soon as his finger touched it, he pulled it back, as if unsure of the reaction. His face was all intent, his lip covering his lower teeth, in concentration.

After nothing untoward happened and the dog didn't seem to mind, he reached out again. This time he let his touch linger longer. He pulled away more slowly. Nothing happened. So this time he reached out again and patted the dog. No reaction. So then he placed his hand on the dog and squeezed. Again, no reaction: I thought the dog was most tolerant. Finally he set about touching various parts of the dog to see how they would feel and what would happen. He squeezed the back (again); he grabbed the short white tail; he patted the head; he pulled at the ears - and then his wandered around to the front of the dog's face, near the teeth. I pulled him back at that. Yet, it was good to note how well the dog was taking all of this. It must be used to the ministrations of children.

After some minutes, of this, I thought that the dog and owner had had enough of this, so I dragged him away. He was most reluctant and kept on looking back. "Doggie...doggie..." he kept on moaning. Finally, when we were about 30 metres away, he took a stand, and pulled against my hand, trying to halt me: I did. I let go of him. He ran off to one side where there was a giant, fallen palm branch, about 6 or 7 feet long and he began to drag it behind him. He walked over to the dog and placed the palm before it, such that green leaves rested on the dog.

He looked at the dog's failure to react, then moved forward and shoved the leaves towards its face. It was clear that Tiarnan, in a gesture of concern, for the dog, was trying to feed it. Little did he know that it wasn't a natural vegetarian. "He eats meat, Tiarnan, not plants." I said, to him, but he ignored me, thinking, perhaps, that if only he tried harder to attract the dog's notice with his offering that it would eat. He pushed it towards the dog again. Then he placed a couple of leaves on its face, directly. Nothing happened. The dog treated the plant as if it weren't there.

Finally, Tiarnan understood that the dog didn't want to eat it. He then picked up the branch and dragged it back the fifteen metres or so, to where he had found it, and replaced it.

We said our goodbyes to the dog and Tiarnan walked off happily with me.

I found the whole incident very sweet to behold. Tiarnan was clearly trying to befriend the dog and had made an offering of what he thought would be food for the dog. You see, we don't have a pet and he has never seen a dog eat - so he doesn't know that they are carnivores. He just thought that that giant branch looked appetizing.

It seems, from this evidence, and much else beside that we should really get our children a pet - preferably a furry one, if Tiarnan's reaction to the dog's coat is anything to go by.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eleven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and four months, and Tiarnan, twenty-one months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The World's Most Exotic Reptile

Fintan, four, is shaping up to be a child with an imagination all of his own. His remarks are so characteristic of him - and of no other - that I long ago started to call them Fintanisms. The same applies to his behaviour.

Two days ago, for reasons known only to himself, Fintan came up behind Tiarnan, twenty months, and gently pushed him to the ground so that he was on all fours, saying: "Run reptile, run!"

Then he paused, momentarily, "Oh no..." I thought, then, in that moment, that he was going to correct his odd description of his younger brother, "crawl."

Hilarious.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Tiarnan's emotional responses

We live in Singapore. It is a city-state of modest proportions, but great ambitions. As you might expect, it is getting relatively crowded, being a small island with four and a half million people.

A couple of days ago, we were in a taxi being driven through town, with Tiarnan, nineteen months, in the car. He was sitting with his mother, looking backwards, as the car moved ahead. Suddenly, he pointed out of the window, and grinned toothily- his big smile revealing each of his small front teeth, his nose wrinkling up as it always did when he was most happy.

We looked where he had pointed and saw a big expanse of green: nothing more than that - just a patch of grass and trees, battling for survival in the middle of a spreading city. Looking at the green and looking at his smile, I was immediately struck by how great his response to it was: he was really happy to see a patch of living plant life, clambering up a mound of earth by the roadside.

He has shown a love of nature before, but it is becoming more clear that he really loves nature. Many little children wouldn't even notice the presence of grass and trees - but Tiarnan picks them out as worthy of special notice and smiles, abundantly, at their presence. He actually responds emotionally to nature: seeing it makes him happy.

Given Tiarnan's love of nature and Fintan's love of animals, perhaps we should be living in the countryside, and not a city. Or at least, we should make sure they spend more time amidst grass, trees and four legged friends.

I wonder at the future world they will grow up in. The global trend appears to be towards ever larger cities and ever greater encroachments upon nature. Will there be much less of the type of world our children love, when they become self-determining adults? I hope not. It would be a pity if Tiarnan were not to have something to smile about, everyday.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and nine months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and two months, and Tiarnan, nineteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Tiarnan and the beetle

Yesterday, Tiarnan, nineteen months, found a new play friend: a beetle.

Unlike most children, Tiarnan shows no fear of all that crawls on six or eight legs (or more for that matter). Indeed, he treats them with both intense curiosity and great friendliness.

Yesterday, he found a very strange looking beetle in our house. It was quite long - about two centimetres - and was black with orange spots on its back. It was like a giant distant relative of a ladybird, but showed no evidence of being able to fly. I had never seen its like before. Tiarnan peered at it, once he found it, then stepped closer until he was right above - then he reached down and picked it up in his hands. That was something I, for one, would not have done. Yet, he held it between his thumb and forefingers watching it wriggle. He was quite absorbed in this.

He set it down and watched it crawl away - but he never let it get far, he would just pick it up again and bring it back.

At one point it crawled over the edge of a wall and fell over - and Tiarnan had half a mind to jump over the wall to follow it. Instead, he walked around and bent down to get it. I had, in the meantime, picked it up on some paper and put it back on top of the wall - to Tiarnan's irritation.

This play with the mysterious beetle of unknown name went on for some time. Yet, after a while, Tiarnan seemed to want the beetle to stand still and not crawl away the whole time, finally, perhaps in frustration, he picked it up with a little too much strength in his little hand and crushed it. Though it didn't crawl away again, I don't think this outcome satisfied Tiarnan and he stared at its broken body for some time, before concluding that there was no more fun to be had with this particular friend.

Throughout, what impressed me was his lack of squeamishness and his absence of fear. To him it was a little playmate - nothing scarier than that. To many adults, it would be something to be avoided. I hope he doesn't learn that fear - for he certainly hasn't started life with it.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and nine months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and two months, and Tiarnan, nineteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Construction of the Grand Snail Hotel

Childhood doesn't seem so far away, when one has children to observe, at play.

At the weekend, Fintan, 4, and Ainan, 7, decided to make their snails more at home. (See the post Children and Pet Animals, for background). They decided to build the Grand Snail Hotel.

The Hotel was quite large, if you were a snail. It was built on the landing of the stairwell outside our flat, between our flat and the neighbour. The construction materials were of the lasting kind: polystyrene and a range of plastics (selected, I believe, by Ainan, because the snails would be unable to eat their residence, it being made of inedible plastic. This is always a good consideration, when one's hotel guests are hungry and unable to distinguish between food and furniture.)

The Grand Snail Hotel had all the attributes of a great and thoughtful hotel. Some polystyrene with a dip in it about a foot and a half long, provided what was, to scale, an Olympic sized swimming pool. Another section with a ramp leading up to it (for snails, like disabled people, are not good with stairs, and need ramps to reach elevated areas), provided a kind of dormitory where snails could sleep en masse. There was a snail restaurant providing the best of leaves - the staple being lettuce from my fridge - and even a supermarket, where there was a large store of unused vegetable leaves, for later purchase by any self-catering snail. The entire complex was self-enclosed in its own wall, protecting the nibbling snails from the difficult environment they might find in the world outside. All in all, it was a masterpiece of Snail Architecture. Credit for the Architecture goes to the creative team of Fintan Nadym Cawley and Ainan Celeste Cawley, who were the sole designers of this innovative construction initiative in the nascent hotel field known as Gastropod Tourism.

Anyway, all this actually happened and was carefully explained to me by the earnest architects: Ainan and Fintan. My wife and I were most impressed at the miniature compound they had created for their adopted snail pets.

As we left to go shopping, my wife called back at Ainan and Fintan: "We will take a photograph of it when we get back!"

We were both happy to see the two aspects of character embodied in that work: creativity in designing it in the first place - and the care for animals that they should think to do so in the first place. Besides, it was hilarious to see what they had done to the stairwell: it had become a Gastropod Hotel. There are not many stairwells in the world like that one.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eight months, or his gifted brothers, including Fintan, aged four years and one month, or Tiarnan, eighteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, genetics, left-handedness, College, University, Chemistry, Science, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The mystery of the disappearing lettuce.

This post won't mean much unless you have read the post on Children and Pet Animals first.

On the morning after my sons had made their own snail colony, Ainan came to me:

"It's gone."

"What?"

"The leaf we left out for the snails. It is gone."

Sure enough the rather large leaf we had left in the stairwell with the snails had disappeared - not just a little gone - but as if it had never been there.

The detective on the Case of the Missing Lettuce, that is, me, is looking for a small, slippery customer, strong enough to carry his own house on his back, escaping from the scene at about 0.05 mph. Shouldn't be too difficult to catch.

Seriously, though - letting the children play with garden animals like this does, I feel, teach them a lot about life. It also has a very subtle, important, and vital implicit lesson: a respect for the environment, for nature and for life. A child brought up with that value is a lot more likely to do the right things for this world, than one who misses out on that lesson.

As for us, we have three children who like animals - and play with them with respect. I feel pleased about that.

(If you would like to read more of the Cawley children, including Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eight months, Fintan, four years and one month, and Tiarnan, eighteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, genetics, left-handedness, College, University, Chemistry, Science, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children. Thanks.)

Tiarnan and the fifty foot animals: Imax

Yesterday, Tiarnan, thirteen months, sat and watched a safari documentary, on Imax.

Perhaps you don't know what Imax is: it is a film format that allows the projection of the image onto a very large curved screen that enfolds the audience, filling the entire field of vision from far left to far right - from high above, to far below. It is not a 360 degrees format because chairs are in the way and audience, too...but it is pretty much as close as you can get in a cinema.

There is another thing about Imax you should know: the images are enormous. Everything is far bigger than it is in a conventional cinema. Every animal was a giant monster. Every vista endless. The scale is what is stunning to an adult. To a young child it is usually frightening.

When Ainan first saw an Imax film, he found it frightening. Fintan was terrified of it, when it came to his turn. Yet, surprisingly, Tiarnan reacted without fear, at all - he just displayed an intense curiosity about the animals on the screen all around him. Tiarnan's reaction was just pure curiosity.

I find it interesting the way each child reacts differently, when exposed to the same stimulus. There are such variations between the children - and yet they are brothers. How much greater, therefore, are the differences between children who are not brothers?

Truly, we humans are a various breed. I find that encouraging: for perhaps there is room among us, for all kinds, and all outlooks and all perceptions. The only battle then, is for us to accept each other - whatever kind we might be. Looking at the world, however, it seems that that battle has only just begun.

(If you would like to learn more of Tiarnan, thirteen months, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and three months, and Fintan, three, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted children and gifted adults, in general. Thanks.)